The University of Pretoria (UP) has once again cemented its position as a global leader in tertiary education by securing the fourth spot in South Africa and Africa, and an impressive 447th position globally out of 12 000 ranked universities in the recent Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.
Conducted by Cybermetrics Lab, the largest public research body in Spain, the ranking takes into account the quality and quantity of university web content, and the visibility and impact of these web publications.
The primary goal of the ranking is to enhance academic web presence and support open-access initiatives. This would substantially boost the dissemination of scientific and cultural knowledge produced by universities.
“The University of Pretoria takes great pride in being recognised among the top four leading universities in Africa and South Africa, and 447th globally in these rankings,” said Professor Sunil Maharaj, UP Vice-Principal for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education.
“This achievement is a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing top-tier education and fostering a culture of research excellence. We are dedicated to advancing knowledge and making a meaningful impact on the global academic landscape within the African landscape.”
The Webometrics ranking, now in its 20th year, utilises a unique methodology focusing on webometric and bibliometric indicators. Webometrics endeavours to rank more than 31 000 higher education institutions from more than 200 countries.
The rankings are compiled by scientists at a world-class public research institution, ensuring a metrics-guided evaluation that reflects the global landscape of higher education.
UP excelled in the three core indicators: Visibility, Transparency/Openness, and Excellence. Visibility, which contributes 50% to the ranking, measures the number of external networks linking to the institution’s web pages. Transparency/Openness, accounting for 10%, evaluates the number of citations from the top 310 authors, excluding outliers. Excellence, with a significant 40% weightage, assesses the number of papers among the top 10% most cited in each of the 27 disciplines over the past five years (2018 – 2022).
For Visibility (Impact), UP holds the 659th position globally; for Openness, it ranks 492nd and for Excellence, it is placed 499th. Across all these metrics, UP was ranked fourth both in Africa and South Africa.
“At UP, we believe in the transformative power of research, and this ranking reaffirms our standing as a research-intensive institution dedicated to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and contributing meaningfully to global scholarship,” Maharaj said.
Pretoria News